The Gordon Research Conference on Bioenergetics is held every two years, alternating with the European Bioenergetics Conference (EBEC). The Bioenergetics Gordon Conference is the principal meeting held in the U.S. which brings together researchers working on problems related to biological energy transduction. This meeting is always oversubscribed and the quality of the selected participants is very high. The 1993 Bioenergetics Gordon Conference will focus on structure-function relationships of electron transfer proteins and ATPases. The emphasis will be on describing the combined use of molecular genetics, biochemistry, and biophysical techniques to obtain structural and functional insight into these complex membrane-bound systems. For example, both cytochrome oxidase and the F1F0-ATPase couple energy- yielding chemical reactions to the translocation of protons across the membrane. What do we know about the characteristics of the proton-conducting channels? What is known about protein conformational transitions during turnover? There are numerous questions of this sort which help form the common ground bringing together the researchers in different energy transducing systems. There will be 8 formal sessions during the week, with 3 speakers each in the morning and 2 in the evening. Wednesday morning will be reserved for workshops on 5 different topics, and the Thursday evening Session will feature one speaker. Session 1 will cover cytochrome oxidase (Wikstrom and Ferguson-Miller), and the third speaker (Hubbell) will discuss experimental approaches to deter-mining the structure of membrane proteins. Session 2 will focus on the mitochondrial Complex 1, both structure (Walker) and the diseases related to the genetic deficiency of this enzyme (Wallace). Session 3 will discuss the mitochondrial FIFO ATPases (Cross, Dunn, Graber) and Session 5 will cover the related vacuolar and plasma membrane ATPases (Slayman, Anraku). Drs. Koshland and Oprian will discuss membrane proteins which undergo distinct conformational changes relating to function: the E. coli aspartate receptor (Koshland) and vertebrate rhodopsin (Oprian). Session 6 will cover aspects of the kinetics of both proton and electron movement in cytochrome oxidase (Millett), the bc1 complex (Dutton), and the reaction center (Wraight). Dr. Oesterhelt in Session 7 will discuss bacteriorhodopsin and halorhodopsin in detail. Finally, Session 8 will cover different aspects of the regulation of ATP synthesis, both in bacteria (Krulwich) and in the mitochondrion (Hansford, Lanoue). A full schedule is attached. Funds are requested specifically to support young investigators, graduate students and postdoctorals attending the Conference. We would like to offer 30 fellowships to selected applicants to pay the registration and on-site costs of the Conference. This rather modest investment can have a substantial impact by reinforcing the enthusiasm for research among these young scientists.